Behind the bar: An ode to bartenders

They are the unsung heroes of Saturday night. They are the gatekeepers to a good time. They are the alchemists of alcohol.

They are your friendly, local bartenders and every night they work hard to make sure the rest of us can relax.

Unfortunately an often thankless job, I recently spent an evening interviewing and observing some bartenders from Dodge City to get their perspective from behind the bar. And from what I saw, with the multi-tasking, heavy-lifting, quick math skills and clever wit, bartending is far more than just pouring a couple of drinks.

And so I decided to tell one of their stories, that of Laura Tucker, 31, as a sort of ode to all the hard-working bar keeps out there. Naturally, I wanted to do this in the most appropriate format possible, which is to say I wrote it to the tune of Billy Joel's "Piano Man."